The first edition of Implausible Professions, published in 1997, foretold many of the core issues around therapy 'professionalisation' that have come to dominate the field in recent years as the shadow of possible state regulation has loomed ever larger over the psy landscape. In the current highly charged context, this new edition could not be better timed. The many and diverse chapters, written by a mix of well-known names and new arrivals, are as fresh and relevant today as they were in the 1990s. The back cover of the first edition described how the contributors to Implausible Professions "throw into question many of the most taken-for-granted assumptions on which the professionalisation and commodification of psychotherapy and counselling are based. The essays display the creative pluralism and passionate vitality which typify the best aspects of therapeutic work." This edition contains a completely new editorial Introduction and Conclusion, updating the story to 2011. For those engaging with the politics of professionalisation for the first time, or wanting to refresh themselves about the reasons why counselling and psychotherapy are in principle 'implausible professions', this text is even more indispensable than it was in 1997.

About the Editor(s)

Richard House Ph.D. is Senior Lecturer in Psychotherapy, Counselling and Counselling Psychology at Roehampton University's Research Centre for Therapeutic Education (RCTE), and a trained Steiner Kindergarten and Class Teacher.

Nick Totton is a therapist and trainer with nearly thirty years experience. Originally a Reichian body therapist, his approach has become broad based and open to the spontaneous and unexpected. Nick has an MA in Psychoanalytic Studies, and has worked with Process-Oriented Psychology and trained as a craniosacral therapist. He has authored or edited seventeen books, mostly on psychotherapy-related topics, including Body Psychotherapy: An Introduction; Psychotherapy and Politics; Press When Illuminated: New and Selected Poems; and Wild Therapy.